On the Nature of Dreams
I cannot believe I'm posting this. LOL!
If anything on this post does not look good/appealing to the eyes, it's due to the fact that one, I'm a visually-impaired gal whose new to LJ, and two, English is not my first language. But do have a go at reading my random ramblings, if you please.
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
I travel the world and the seven seas,
Everybody's looking for something.
-The Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams
Yes, we all know how that song goes. But the words weren’t lying. Indeed, everybody is looking for something. But what could that ‘something’ be? It could be a number of things, really. Many, many things, I’d wager.
What are ’sweet dreams’ made of? Is there even such a thing as a ‘sweet dream’ anyway?
The nature of dreams is something that is very hard to describe or define. Most people say that our dreams are figments of our imaginations, beings and things that only live inside our heads, brought to life in sleep. Some say they are thoughts we have during waking hours that we fail to notice, and therefore, unconsciously, are put in the back of our minds, later to be rediscovered, awakened, ironically, in deep slumber. Others consider them as signs, guides, if you will, to give us a little push in the right direction. Perhaps our dreams are wishes or prayers that take shape and form while sleeping. Perhaps they tell stories of their own. Stories of things we keep only to ourselves, unknown to anyone and never to be told outside the safety of our blankets, remaining forever as secrets whispered only to our unhearing, unspeaking pillows, never to be betrayed to anyone. These are the things, the thoughts, the feelings which we rarely, if ever, acknowledge, show or let other people see even a glimpse of.
Dreams are very fickle things. They show us things that we dearly wish to be true, that they could and would be true someday, things that we’d very much want to be real. but are either yet to happen, simply cannot happen, or will not happen until a certain point or time, allowing anticipation to take hold of the one dreaming the dream, or never to happen at all, for various reasons; one being the impossibility or improbability of the thing/event the dream is about. These dreams are manifestations of our desires, our own versions of what we envision our presents, or futures, to be. How it should look like, sound like, feel like; what it should have and not have, pictures of beautiful, wonderful things we’d want for that future. Our dream house, dream car, dream vacation, dream 18th birthday, dream wedding, etc. In dreams, these scenarios take more than simply their figurative meanings. Who we wish to be in that future counts, as well. Perhaps your job now is not quite your preferred line of work, so in your dream present/future, you have your true dream job. An occupation that to you, seems more fitting. Something that suits you better than what you have now. For example, let’s say that your parents somehow convinced you to follow their footsteps and become a lawyer. Being the loving, obedient child you are, you did. Studied and graduated for it. But all the while, in your heart you knew that you had the sincere wish to teach young children. You have the talent for it, you hear the calling for it, but you did not end up as a preschool teacher as you had wanted. You changed your path to fulfill their wish, not your own. And so, this wish stayed in the deepest recesses of your mind, of your heart, now making its home in your dreams at night. There, you are a very successful, happy, loving and loved teacher to cute, sweet and lovely children. You are content there. In your dream, you are on a cruise to the bahamas. You are about to go on a trip to Europe. Japan. Wherever, whatever. You can do all these things because in this particular dream, you won the lottery. You are having fun. You are having the time of your life, wherever your dream has taken you, whatever you may be doing there. And when you dream this dream life, traipsing through that dream paradise, living in that beautiful dream house, you may say to yourself, “If this is a dream, I don’t want to wake up.”
On the other hand, dreams can also show us things that we’d rather wish would never come to pass. Things we fear, monsters in different forms which we hide from, phantoms in all shapes and sizes we run from. It is this kind which we ignore no sooner than it enters our brains, that which we desperately wish to forget.
We call these nightmares.
Really, they're just bad dreams. Events we’d hope never to take place in our lives. Terrible, horrifying ones we loathe and despise. Wars, diseases, horrors and destructions that we badly, madly hope to never befall that which we love, especially the people we love; family and friends, one’s country and even oneself. Dark thoughts and imaginings we banish during daylight that somehow still manage to come out at night to haunt us and remind us of their existence, despite our dismissal and refusal of them.
For example, you have a most crippling fear of heights. Being so elevated, then looking down and falling is the scariest thing imaginable to you. Then, one night, you dream of doing just that. Falling, from very, very high up down to the lowest low possible. Perhaps you dreamed you were falling off a cliff. Or perhaps you and a couple of friends or family members just so happened to watch a newly released thriller/horor film. Gore, blood, hideous beasts, screams, a witch, zombies, you name it. Whatever was in that movie somehow wormed its way into your subconscious and right into your dreams… well, nightmares, in this case, but still dreams, only more unpleasant ones. These are the nighttime journeys that, in contrast to the good nightly voyages when you silently plead to anyone waiting, daring to think to take you away from your heavenly encounter with Orlando Bloom, “Oh, do not even think it. Do not even dare. Please, please don’t wake me up, don’t wake me up from this dream now!”, you instead plead for the opposite. For someone to save you and save you now; shake you into consciousness, bring you to wakefulness, alert and aware, welcomed by the glorious sunlight shining through your open window, away from the horrific, twisted dream you had found yourself in merely a few minutes earlier. Nothing but a dream, but it leaves you moved, afraid, shaken to the core, fearful, but only for a while. The weight disappears as soon as somebody says “Good morning!” to you.
Dreams are pictures we unknowingly take during the day which develop fully during the night. They are moments only known to our souls, for they take place only when our eyes are closed, our bodies still, and our minds wander. We are off guard. Dreaming is the unlocking of memories. Dreams unfold the past, they undo the present, and they guess the future, or at least attempt it. They shape the future… for some, even reveal it. Dreams create their own present, just as they create their own future. But dreams and their nature depend on the dreamer. It changes for every person. It is not always the same, it does not always cary the same meaning for one that it does for another. For one, a dream about butterflies is a soothing, peaceful dream that represents the beauty of life and what it brings. But for another, it is a dream that speaks of death or a fear of change. A good dream to me, a bad one to you. Different views, different perspectives. That is how it goes. Different people, different dreams. And vise versa.
We call our pleasant dreams ‘good dreams’ or ‘sweet dreams’ because they show us what we want, but the enjoyment ends when we wake up to reality and disappointment takes over us, reminding us, rather harshly at times, that it had all been just a dream. What’s more, that the thing we want could never truly happen. On its brighter side, waking up can open our eyes (quite literally), and minds, to the fact that the thing we want, if we truly want it, could most definitely still happen, if we do something about the dream we’d just had by in turn doing something about our ‘real life’ or the ‘real world’ as we sometimes call it, instead of dwelling on that spark of disappointment. Either we make that dream into reality, or we change the reality we have with it, for it or through it, if necessary!
We call our bad dreams ‘bad dreams’ or ‘nightmares’ because they show us the things that we do not want to happen to us, but are also very possible, though not always probable. This is more than that simple spark of disappointment, more than just a harsh awakening, this is pure fear and terror. No magic, no peace, no salvation except by another’s hand; someone to wake you up and save you from the brink of falling, and remind you that it was all nothing but a dream and that no harm can come to you through a dream. This, unsurprisingly, makes us on guard, alert, aware, ready and prepared, to face whatever the waking world throws at us. Here, again, you can do one of two things. You can either continue to be afraid of everything, even those that exist outside the realm of sleep and dreams, and let that certain nightmare haunt you for the rest of your existence, thereby letting yourself be hindered from experiencing what life has to offer, or you can gently remind yourself that a dream is a dream, you are awake and moving now, there is nothing to be afraid of, for it had all just sprouted from your head, and that it is time to live life. Your life. That whatever scared you in a dream cannot scare you in daylight because you can and will learn to face your fears, especially the real ones. That nothing and no one can harm you unless you let them. Nothing and no one hurt you or make you cry without your permission. It is all up to you, you can choose to be weak, or you can strive to be strong.
“Dreams are my reality… The only kind of real fantasy... illusions are a common thing…”
“Here in my room, dreaming about you and me…”
“It can be a sweet dream, or a beautiful nightmare… Either way, I don’t wanna wake up from you…”
Plenty of songs have been written about dreams. And many more continue to be written. And for good reason. Many of these songs brilliantly describe dreams. Superbly written lyrics accompanied by memorable melodies help, too. But it is their accurate descriptions of their dreams, good or bad, or both (is there even such a thing as a ‘beautiful nightmare’?), and the way they express their thoughts that make us listen, believe, understand, and to an extent, relate to their tale.
Dreams have remained a longstanding topic in the ‘unsolved mysteries’ category and again, for good reason. Interesting, possibly enlightening, surely riveting, this topic can spark good conversation and lovely storytelling and a few debates regarding the nature of sleep and dreams. In fact, I can honestly say with absolute certainty that if you Google ‘On the Nature of Dreams’ or something of the sort, you will find over dozens… no, thousands (or more) of articles, essays, blogs and books dedicated to this subject. Sleep experts, doctors, teachers, psychologists, psychiatrists, people from all walks of life have most probably written an article or two about this fascinating subject.
And so, I will not attempt to explain certain meanings of certain nice dreams and horrible nightmares, as I do not claim to be an expert in them. I believe that there are the right people for that, ones who have years of research and experience on their side and have, and continue to, study in depth all that I had just talked about here. This was simply an attempt to explore, understand, and talk about the nature of dreams, inspired by a certain dream I had the previous night. For more information, do as stated above, consult good ol’ Google’s ever-helpful assistance!